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What We Need to Know About Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

What We Need to Know About Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

August 28, 2018

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are quite popular topics nowadays. Despite a lot of articles and expert opinions, these terms can be used as the same, but in fact they have different meanings. Let’s discover what artificial intelligence and machine learning are.

Sergey Sarakatch, Senior Software Engineer and Team Lead at SolbegSoft, contributed to the article.

According to Technopedia “Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an area of computer science that emphasizes the creation of intelligent machines that work and react like humans. Some of the activities computers with artificial intelligence are designed for include: Speech recognition, Learning, Planning, Problem solving, Machine”.

“ Machine Learning (ML) is the part of the Artificial Intelligence (AI), which solves only definitive scope of the tasks. ML automatizes the routine operations to determine the optimal parameters that produce the result. For example, there are 3 parameters and depending on their values, there may be different results. ML tests various formulas of all possible variations and gives out the optimal formula for which the performer of these parameters gives the desired result. Artificial Intelligence is a rather wide term – it includes both Machine Learning and neural networks that have such a feature as self-learning ability.”

Sergey Sarakatch, Senior Software Engineer and Team Lead at SolbegSoft

Machine learning is concentrating on developing and designing algorithms while artificial intelligence is focusing on the most important on how to make intelligent machines work, think and behave like humans. Interesting to notice, that machine learning can exist without artificial learning, but artificial learning can not be used without machine learning.

Artificial intelligence is a wide term, that has three categories: narrow or weak Artificial Intelligence (system that can predict or event surpass human intelligence for some reason), Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) which means “machine brains” that can perform any human being intellectual activity, and super-intelligent AI (outperforming the most intelligent and bright brain of people).

Let’s take a look at how AI is used in the Microcredit sector on the example of microfinance lending platform development project that engages SolbegSoft specialists. To develop algorithm that enables credit scoring, Analysts determine the necessary parameters and test them through the Machine Learning. The whole mechanism is based on the assumption that if there was a certain result on specific conditions, and there was another result on other conditions – so there is high probability of the same or approximately the same result on the same conditions. Depending on that we have coefficients with probability from 0 to 1. Coefficient closer to 1 has more probability than coefficient closer to 0. For example, during the scoring process we receive the coefficient from 0 to 1 and depending on the result, the system makes decision about a loan issuing: whether a user receives it or doesn’t.
The main benefits of this scoring system are minimization of risks, processes automation, time saving during loan decision, cots – cutting for business. In future this scoring service will be developed and make all the processes easier and faster.

Machine Learning has two types of learning: inductive (based on precedents and collection of general patterns) and deductive (formalizing the experts’ knowledges and forming the knowledge base). Machine Learning makes the recognition and understanding of the human language, and continuously becomes smarter.

“One of the examples of AI application is the story of a Japanese farm. They needed to segregate their cucumbers in 9 different sorts. Of course, the farmer had qualified workers who made all the routine and manual sorting. But once they decided to make some simple conveyor with camera that recognized cucumbers and made automatic segregation of them for 9 different boxes depending on their shape and size. Firstly, the system of recognition wasn’t very qualified, but after some corrections and improvements they finally got automated sorting process with minimal costs. Who knew that this decision based on a simple camera and conveyor would be such successful and beneficial for the farm?”

There is no need to say that nowadays AI application is not limited to Agriculture. AI is widely used in Finance and Banking, Transportation and Logistics, Manufacturing, Facility Management etc. What about Machine Learning? Chat-bots, content feed in Social Media, etc. We use these technologies every day without even realizing.

“In my opinion, perspectives of AI and ML are the processes automation that will help to avoid mistakes and minimize risks. In addition, the evolution of Artificial Intelligence will cause the generation of new ideas and great products. What about the threats, I think that we passed only half the way and that time when program will write another program and can really compete with human is too far now.”

We can only make forecast about how AI and ML will really affect our life in future, but what we can see now is that Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are making our world better and smarter. Of course, there are a lot of people thinking about such threats of AI as labor market changes, robot’s usurpation, etc. Though, we can’t stop the progress and avoid the world’s improvement.